


Five Things Shepherd Book Learns Aboard Serenity

by toxic_corn



Category: Firefly
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-11-12
Updated: 2006-11-12
Packaged: 2018-11-07 12:56:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11059434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/toxic_corn/pseuds/toxic_corn
Summary: Shepherd Book discovers a secret relationship in the making and tries to make sense of it.





	Five Things Shepherd Book Learns Aboard Serenity

**Author's Note:**

> Another prompt for annabellofga.

1\. Knock First

 

Simon had asked Book to bring River her dinner. The girl had said she wasn’t feeling well and had missed eating with them. Concerned, Book was more than happy to help the poor child out.

 

Humming softly, Book slid her door open. “River, I have some-”

 

She sat in the middle of the bed, ripping up picture after picture, sobbing. “Not a child, not something to be toyed with, not yours, not yours, _not yours_!”

 

“River!” the shepherd set the tray on her dresser and rushed to her side. He reached out and stilled her hands, hugging her to his chest the way her brother always did. “Shhh, it’s all right, it’s all right.”

 

“Nothing will ever be all right,” she croaked, turning sad brown eyes up to look at him. Then she started to gather the destroyed pictures together, stuffing them under her pillow. “Shouldn’t have seen this. Should’ve knocked.”

 

Curious, Book picked up one of the torn pieces and looked at it.

 

There, in all his scowling glory, was Jayne Cobb.

 

 

2\. Don’t Jump to Conclusions

 

“Jayne, could I speak with you for a moment?”

 

“Sure, shepherd, don’t gotta ask.” Jayne sat up on his weight bench, toweling off.

 

“Whatever is going on with River, you end it right now.”

 

Jayne stared at him blankly, then burst out laughing. “That’s a good one!”

 

“I don’t understand,” Book said, frowning.

 

His laughter continued for a few moments longer and then Jayne took a deep breath. “Woo. Think I got more of a work out there than with my lifting.” He gave Book a serious look. “I don’t got anything goin’ on with the doc’s sister ‘n if I find the bastard who said I did, he’s losin’ one o’ his-”

 

“All right!” Book interrupted, holding up his hands. “My mistake.”

 

Jayne watched the shepherd walk away shaking his head and started to think.

 

 

3\. Eavesdropping is Impolite

 

“What lies are you tellin’ about me, girl?!”

 

Book looked up from his reading. There was no mistaking Jayne’s booming voice.

 

“I’ve told no falsehoods.”

 

“Then why’s the shepherd think we got somethin’ goin’ on?”

 

“I couldn’t say.”

 

“Oh, ya couldn’t, huh?! Now, why is it that I don’t believe ya?”

 

“Stop screaming at me!”

 

“Then tell me the truth!”

 

“Because I gave up!”

 

“What th-”

 

Quickly, Book rose to his feet and opened his door in time to see what looked like confetti hit Jayne right in the face as River slammed her door shut.

 

“Ya crazy bitch!” Jayne hissed and stormed away.

 

Book took a few steps into the hall and looked at the paper on the floor, noting without much surprise that they were the ripped up photos.

 

“It’s impolite to eavesdrop,” River’s voice said, quietly disapproving.

 

 

4\. Don’t Judge A Book By Its Cover

 

“Shepherd.” 

 

Book paused on his way to the stairs, finding Jayne lounging on the common room couch.

 

“Look at this.”

 

Jayne handed Book a partial piece of photo, taped together where River had ripped it. “Why’s she got pictures of me all tore up?”

 

“I don’t know,” Book said. “I saw her do it, so I just assumed that you two had a… dalliance which hadn’t ended well.”

 

Jayne laughed, humorlessly. “I ain’t been doin’ any dallyin’ preacher.” He looked down at the photo. “What do ya think she meant by it when she said she gave up?”

 

“What do you think, Jayne?”

 

The big man’s eyes lit with surprise and then he shook his head. “Naw, she can’t, that ain’t it. Not with me.”

 

“But-”

 

“It ain’t me.” Jayne crossed his arms, looking off to the side. “Someone like her…”

 

Book watched Jayne’s face carefully. “Son, maybe you should consider-”

 

“Forget it, shepherd.” Jayne took back the photo and stared at it a moment before slipping it into his pocket. 

 

Simon and River came through the door just then and went into the med bay, chattering with each other. Book looked at Jayne and saw the longing in the mercenary’s face before he schooled his features into his usual scowl and slouched his way up to the bridge.

 

Amazing. A man who practically oozed confidence on a daily basis could become self doubting at the possibility of a young girl rejecting him. There was much more to Jayne Cobb than met the eye.

 

 

5\. Giving the Benefit of the Doubt

 

For weeks, Jayne and River tiptoed around each other. Book noticed but realized that no one else did. He didn’t feel like it was his place to say anything so he waited to see how things would play out, feeling a little uneasy all the while.

 

The night of River’s twentieth birthday brought his lone uncomfortable knowledge to an end.

 

“What are you doing in my sister’s room?”

 

“Think it should be pretty obvious, Doc.”

 

“Well, you just… you just put your pants on right now!”

 

“’m kinda busy.”

 

“You’re b- CAPTAIN REYNOLDS!”

 

“You’re gonna tattle on me?”

 

“Simon, really, you’re being an ass.”

 

“I won’t stand by and have my sister molested by a… a…”

 

Book stepped out of his room and found Simon in River’s doorway, puffed up with rage. “Doctor!” he said, sharply.

 

“Shepherd!” Simon jumped but then looked relieved. “Tell me you agree that this situation is abom-”

 

“No.”

 

“No?”

 

Book gently tugged Simon out of the doorway and slid River’s door shut. “She needs to grow up, son.”

 

The doctor looked offended. “I know that!”

 

“I don’t think you do.” Book shook his head. “River’s a grown woman now who needs to start making her own decisions. And she chooses Jayne.”

 

“Why?! He’s a… a…”

 

“He may not be the most polite, well-spoken man in the ‘verse but he’s never going to hurt her.”

 

Simon frowned uncertainly. “How can you be so sure?”

 

“I’ve gotten to know Jayne a little over the years. Maybe you should give it a try yourself.”

 

“What if he does hurt her?”

 

Book considered this a moment. “Between the two of us, I think we can show him the error of his ways.”

 

Simon grinned. “Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”

 

The doctor reluctantly went up to the bunk he shared with Kaylee and Shepherd Book started to go into his own room.

 

“Hey, shepherd?”

 

He paused. “Yes, Jayne?”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Don’t prove me wrong, boy.”

 

“I won’t. That’s a promise.”

THE END


End file.
